Overview for
rest

GraphQL is a technology which is a modern and uniform alternative to the wealth of different RESTful interfaces. REST was introduced back in 2000 and is only an architectural style, not a specification. In REST any self-respecting developer is used to versioning, but in GraphQL there is no concept of versioning in the same sense.

The technology world is filled with hype spiced up with jargon. Each passing day there is a new technology that supercedes the previous one. For the last few years RESTful APIs have been the hottest thing.

But today many vow to the name of GraphQL and dance on the graves of REST APIs. But what exactly is GraphQL and how is it different from REST APIs?

Today the world has evermore information created and consumed each passing day. Not only is content creation using tools like Instagram, YouTube and others booming, but we're also collecting more and more data using sensors in our smartphones, cars and what not. So what is the relation of these two, content and data?

Today the market is awash with options available for developers to consume content using the APIs. Some go as far as describing their offering as a CMS without the bad parts, where as some choose to provide content using a data centric API platform.

All of this while the classic Content Management System players are opening up their core via APIs and modernising their technical platforms. Is there a silver bullet for Content APIs? Let's find out!

The current world of computing owes a lot to Microsoft. They made a bold bet on the value of software over hardware over 30 years ago. The legacy of this carries on today with commodity hardware, but software itself has also largely become a commodity with Open Source.

Yet there is still something we could learn from IBM PC Compatible clones at this time of "decoupling" content management. The focus remains in breaking up Open Source products to pieces and then gluing those bits together with a specific type of REST glue.